A girl tries a VR device at the cultural and tourism services exhibition hall in the Shougang Park during the 2022 CIFTIS in Beijing, capital of China, Sept 4, 2022. (JU HUANZONG / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's services trade value grew 20.4 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of 2022, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Wednesday.

The total trade value stood at nearly 3.94 trillion yuan (about US$554.13 billion), according to the data.

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Services exports expanded 23.1 percent year-on-year to 1.91 trillion yuan, and services imports totaled 2.03 trillion yuan, up 17.9 percent from a year ago.

Travel services recovered during this period, as trade in the sector advanced 7.1 percent from last year to 542.66 billion yuan

The growth of services trade exports outpaced import growth by 5.2 percentage points, resulting in a 29.5-percent drop in the services trade deficit to 121.08 billion yuan from the same period last year.

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Trade in knowledge-intensive services raked in 1.64 trillion yuan, up 11.4 percent year on year, the data showed.

Knowledge-intensive services exports gained 15.7 percent to hit 929.79 billion yuan, led by categories such as intellectual property royalties and computing and information services.

Travel services recovered during this period, as trade in the sector advanced 7.1 percent from last year to 542.66 billion yuan.

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